Steve Parkin, executive chairman of Clipper Logistics, has been granted an extension to his deadline to take the company private.
Parkin, who founded the company in 1992 and owns nearly a third of its shares, is understood to be preparing a £300m bid with Florida-based Sun Capital Partners.
He now has until 5pm on 15 January 2020 to announce a firm intention to make an offer for the retail logistics company or withdraw.
"There's a lot of assets and information to analyse and a deal like this isn't done until it's done," a Clipper Logistics spokesperson told motortransport.com. "But the difference is Eddie Stobart had to do a deal as they were out of cash whereas our buyout share price offer has to be high enough to convince the pension funds and other big investors who bought in when the share price was higher than circa £3."
Sources suggest the Clipper Logistics board has become frustrated by the need for City reporting and procedures which have hampered the day-to-day running of the company.
It is understood to be keen to invest in automation in its warehouses and other areas of the business but the short-term nature of six-monthly reporting and accounting doesn't sit well with long-term investment paybacks.
Parkin is also said to be frustrated at the slide in the company's share price over the past year.
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Earlier this week (16 December), Clipper Logistics announced "impressive" revenue growth in the first six months of the financial year, boosted by "strong growth" in e-fulfilment and returns management, according to its interim results.
The firm announced a 12% revenue increase to £254.6m for the six months to October 31, up from £227.9m compared to the same period last year. Pre-tax profit grew 9.5% to £10.1m in the period, up from £9.3m in the previous year.
Parkin said: "The group continues to see impressive revenue and EBIT performance in the first six months of the year, largely driven by the particularly strong growth in e-fulfilment and returns management and an improving contribution from our Clicklink joint venture."
Looking to the future Parkin said: "Trading has continued to be positive post-period end, with the key Black Friday trading weekend seeing record daily volumes in certain sites, and we expect full year earnings to be broadly in line with the board's expectations.
"Clipper remains positive about the longer-term outlook and believes the group is well positioned to achieve further growth in both the UK and internationally."
